Wire drawing apparatus



1962 w. A. EHLERT ETAL 3,017,016

WIRE DRAWING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 28, 1960 INVENTOR.5WILL/AM A fHLERT y 1150 0.

MEPSEK &

Jan. 16, 1962 w. A. EHLERT ETAL 3,017,016

WIRE DRAWING APPARATUS Filed July 28, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 16,1962 w. A. EHLERT ETAL 3,017,016

WIRE DRAWING APPARATUS Filed July 28, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 W/LUAM A.FHLERT BY 50 0. Raf/r Q Arm 5Y3 3,617,916 WIRE DRAWiNG APPARATKISWiliiam A. lEhlert, South Euclid, and Leo D. Merseir, Euclid, Ohio,assignors to The Ajax Manufacturing Company, Euciid, Ohio, a corporationof Uhio Filed duly 28, M68, er. No. 45,916 16 Gianna. (Cl. 265-13) Thisinvention relates to wire drawing apparatus and, more particularly, towire drawing apparatus of the kind in which the die means is pushed overand along the wire during intermittent work strokes to effect thedrawing of the wire. The invention further relates to wire drawingapparatus of this character intended for use in adjacent relation to afabricating machine to which the drawn wire is supplied at substantiallythe rate of production operation of such machine.

It is recognized in the wire drawing art and in the art of fabricatingdrawn wire by cold working that important advantages are realized whenthe wire being drawn and immediately fed to the frabricating machine isa hotrolled or fully-annealed Wire stock, whereas the fabrication ofwire drawn from cold-rolled stock, or wire which has become age-hardenedafter drawing, is usually difficult and may cause rapid wear or breakageof the dies of the fabricating machine. Furthermore, when the wirerequired by the fabricating machine is a small-diameter wire, it becomeseven more ditficult to supply the fabricating machine with such ahot-rolled or fully-annealed type of drawn wire. This results from thefact that successive draws are necessary to obtain the small-diameterwire and a practical handling of small-diameter wire usually requiresstoring of the wire in coils between the successive drawing operationsand age-hardening is prone to occur during such storage.

This invention deals effectively with these problems and, as one of itsobjects, provides novel wire drawing apparatus in which a plurality ofdraws, performed by reciprocably movable drawing dies on wire to be feddirectly to a fabricating machine, are accomplished in the sameapparatus in succession and without any time delay, or any need forstorage or handling of coils of wire, between the successive drawingoperations.

As another object thereof, this invention provides novel wire drawingapparatus of the character above indicated and having wheel meansengageable by a bight portion of the wire between successive draws, andwhich wheel means is rotatably drive-n for producing an advance feedingof the Wire with respect to at least one of the first or earlier drawingstations so as to prevent or minimize marring or flattening of the wiredue to an excessive pulling or clamping force which might otherwise needto be applied to the wire by a feeding means located adjacent the finaldrawing station.

Still another object is to provide novel wire drawing apparatus of thecharacter just above referred to wherein the wheel means has annularlygrooved rim means of a form to prevent kinking of the wire passingtherearound, as well as complete disengagement of the wire therefrom dueto slackening of the wire.

As a further object this invention provides novel wire tat tent drawingapparatus of the kind above indicated wherein the drawing die of thedrawing station on the wire-receiving side of the wheel means has ashorter drawing stroke than the die of the drawing station on the otheror wiredelivery side of the wheel means, whereby a smooth and relativelyquieter operation of the apparatus is achieved.

Additionally, this invention provides novel wire drawing apparatus ofthe kind having a drawing die mounted on a reciprocable slide containinga lubricant chamber, and wherein the construction of the slide withrespect to the lubricant chamber thereof and the location of the dierelative to the lubricant chamber, greatly facilitate cleaning of thelubricant chamber, as well as the removal and replacement of the die,when these operations become necessary.

Other objects, novel characteristics and. advantages of this inventionwill be apparent in the following detailed description and in theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which,

FIG. 1 is a side elevation, with portions in section, showing wiredrawing apparatus embodying this invention and having multiple drawingunits;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a partial longitudinal vertical section taken through one ofthe wire drawing units of the apparatus, the view being taken asindicated by section line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a similar longitudinal vertical section taken through anotherof the wire drawing units as indicated by section line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an end elevation of the main portion of the apparatus whenviewed as indicated by the directional line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a larger scale transverse vertical section through the rimportion of the wheel means of the apparatus, as indicated by sectionline 6-6 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 7 is a plan view similar to that of FIG. 2 but which is somewhatdiagrammatic and illustrates a modified form of the apparatus.

The novel wire drawing apparatus 10 of this invention (FIG. 2) operatesto perform a plurality of drawing operations on a wire 11 at differentpoints therealong and to supply the drawn wire directly to a fabricatingmachine 12, such as a cold-header type of machine, at substantially therate of production operation of the latter. The wire 11 is supplied tothe drawing apparatus 10 from a supply coil 13 or the like, and ispreferably a hot-rolled or fully-annealed form of wire .stock.

The wire drawing apparatus 16' comprises, in general, a frame structure15 common to a plurality of wire drawing units, in this case first andsecond wire drawing units 16 and 17, and wheel means it; around which abight portion of the wire extends in a wrapped relation thereto inpassing between the two drawing units. The drawing units 16 and 17 areof the reciprocating-die type and are provided respectively with drawingdies 19 and 20 which are pushed over and along the wire 11 during thedrawing strokes performed thereby.

The fabricating machine 12, is of a conventional form having die means(not shown) thereon for performing desired operations on the drawn wirein accordance with the product being produced, and is here shown asincluding a feed roll device 22 for feeding the drawn wire from theapparatus 10 to the dies of the fabricating machine. The feed rolldevice 22 comprises cooperating feed rolls 23 and 24 adapted to grip andadvance the drawn wire and which are rotatably driven, preferably fromthe fabricating machine 12 and in a timed relation to the operation ofthe latter.

The drawing apparatus 1% is connected with the fabrieating machine 12 asby means of tie rods 25 and is operatively driven from the fabricatingmachine by a drag link 26 connected with the latter, as will be furtherexplained hereinafter. The operating connections by which the feed rolldevice 22 and the drag link 26 are actuated from the movable mechanismof the fabricating machine 12 are of a conventional form well known topersons skilled in this art, such as connections of the kind illustratedin Patent No. 2,018,211 dated October 22, 1935. Since the wire drawingapparatus 14] and the associated feed roll device 22 are thus connectedwith the fabricating machine 12 to be operated therefrom, they 3 will bedriven in a timed relation to the fabricating machine as well as in atimed relation to each other.

The frame means is adapted to stand on a floor or the like and comprisesan upright hollow main portion or frame body 28 and a plurality ofgui-deway portions 29 and 39 connected with the frame body, in thiscase, in a laterally adjacent or side-by-side relation to each other asshown in FIG. 2. The guideway portions 29 and 31 are provided withguideways 31 and 32 extending in the longitudinal direction of theadvance feeding movement of the wire 11. The advance feeding movement ofthe wire 11 is indicated by the arrows 33 and, when the guidewayportions 29 and 30 are in the laterally adjacent relation mentioned justabove, the guideways 31 and 32 thereof are substantially parallel.

The guideway portions 29 and 3d of the frame 15 are also provided withhollow grip boxes 36 and 37 in which wire gripping devices 38 and 39 arelocated for gripping engagement with portions of the wire 11 extendingthrough these grip boxes, as will be further explained hereinafter. Thegrip device 38 of the first drawing unit 16 can be conveniently referredto as the first grip device and is located on the wire-delivery end ofthe guideway portion 29 of the frame. The grip device 39 of the seconddrawing unit 17 can be referred to as the second grip device and islikewise located on the wiredelivery end of the guideway portion 30. Thefirst and second grip devices 38 and 3 9 are therefore located on theouter or remote ends of the drawing units 16 and 17, as is clearlyapparent from FIG. 2.

The first and second drawing units 16 and 17 also comprise first andsecond slides 40 and 41 which support the drawing dies 19 and and arereciprocably slidable in the guideways 3 1 and 32 for causing the diesto be pushed over and along the wire 11 in drawing engagement therewith.The drawing units 16 and 17 are also provided with first and secondswingable draw levers 42 and 43 for actuating the slides 40 and 41during the work strokes thereof, the lever 42 being a bell crank leverhaving an upper arm l2 co-operable with the slide 41) and the lever 43being a straight lever having an upper arm portion 43 co-operable withthe slide 41.

The arm 42 of the draw lever 42 is provided at the upper end thereofwith a forked portion 46 which straddles the wire 11 and is adapted forpushing engagement with the slide 40 at laterally spaced points thereof.Similarly, the arm 43 of the draw lever 43 is provided with a forkedportion 47 which straddles a projecting hollow axial portion 48 of theslide 41 and is adapted for pushing engagement with such slide atlaterally spaced points thereof.

The first draw lever 42 is swingable on a transverse pivot shaft 50mounted in the guideway portion 29 of the frame 15 and the draw lever 43is swingably supported by, and keyed to, a transverse shaft 51 which isrockably mounted in the frame 15 and includes a shaft projection '51 atone end thereof. The lower arm 43* of the second draw lever 43 isconnected with the drag link 26 extending from the fabricating machine12, and the first draw lever 42 is connected with the projecting portionof the shaft 51 by means of a connecting link 52 and a lever 53 keyed onsuch projecting shaft portion.

The grip devices 38 and 39 are of a conventional form each comprising apair of grip blocks 55 having co-operating grip portions between whichthe wire 11 extends and which blocks are automatically effective on thewire to grip the same for preventing backward movement thereof duringthe drawing strokes of the dies 19 and 20. The grip blocks 55 operate toautomatically release the wire 11 during advance feeding movementsthereof which take place between the intermittent drawing strokes of thedies.

During the work strokes of the slides 4-1) and 41 (FIGS. 3 and 4)produced by their respective draw levers 42 and 43, the dies 19 and 20are pushed along the wire 11 in a direction away from the associatedgrip devices 38 and 39. During the return swinging movement of the drawlevers 42 and 43, their forked portions 4-6 and 47 are disengageablefrom the associated slides 40 and 41 and the advance feeding movement ofthe drawn wire takes place during the return swinging movements of thedraw levers. During such feeding movement of the drawn wire, the dies 19and 20 and their associated slides 40 and 41 move in the advancedirection in unison with the portions of the wire which are then locatedin the drawing dies and slides.

The advance feeding movement of the wire 11 is produced by the action ofthe wheel means 18 and the feed roll device 22, as will be explainednext, and is assisted by compression spring means 56 located in one orboth of the drawing units and, in this case, shown only in the drawingunit 17 and engaging a depending spring seat 57 of the slide 41.

The wheel means 18 serves the important purpose of a feed means for thedrawing unit 16, and also serves to receive the first drawn portion 11of the wire being delivered from the first drawing unit and to directsuch first drawn portion to the second drawing unit 17. This latterpurpose of the wheel means 18 is accomplished in a manner to preventkinking of the first drawn portion 11 as well as to preventdisengagement of the bight 58 portion from the wheel means whenslackening of the wire occurs.

The wheel means 18 comprises a base 60 located ad jacent to or connectedwith the frame 15, a post or spindle 61 mounted in the base andextending thereabove, and a wheel 62 rotatably supported by the post asby having a center sleeve or hub 63 journalled on the upper end portionof the post. The wheel member 62 has an annular rim portion 64 and anannular groove 65 extending around the outer periphery of the rim memberfor receiving the bight 58 of the first drawn portion 11 of the wire ina wrapped relation to such rim portion.

In order to prevent the above-mentioned kinking or disengagement of thedrawn wire portion 11 from the wheel member 62, the peripheral groove 65(FIG. 6) is of a slot-like form and is of relatively narrow width in adirection along the rotation axis of the wheel member, and additionally,is relatively deep in a direction radially of the wheel member. Theaxial width of the groove 65 is only enough greater than the diameter ofthe drawn portion 11* to freely accommodate the latter in a manner toprevent kinking thereof. The radial depth of the annular groove 65 issuch that the maximum amount of slackening of the bight 58 occurringduring the operation of the drawing apparatus 10 will be accommodated byradial shifting of the wire in the groove but with the wire alwaysremaining in the groove and thus prevented from becoming completelydisengaged from the wheel member 62.

The rim portion of the wheel member 62 can be of any suitableconstruction which will provide an annular groove of the axially-narrowradially-deep character explained just above for the groove 6d and ishere shown as comprising a radially projecting annular blade or tongue67 on the rim member 64 on the outer side thereof, and a pair of axiallyspaced coextending fiat ring members 68 and 69 secured to the blade 67on opposite sides thereof as by welding or the like. The ring members 68and 69 preferably have their inner annular edges in abutting engagementwith the rim member 64 on opposite sides of the projecting blade 67. Theouter annular edges portions of the ring members 68 and 69 arepreferably flared or deflected away from each other to provide theannular groove 65 with a tapered entry portion to facilitate themovement of the drawn wire portion 11 thereinto.

The wheel means 18 also comprises driving means 70 (FIGS. 1 and 2) forimparting rotation to the wheel member 62. The driving means 71 can beof any suitable form or construction and is here shown as comprising asupport member 71 fixed on the spindle 61, and a variable-speed drivingunit 72 attached to a bracket 73 which is swingably mounted on thesupport member by pivot means 74 The driving unit '72 comprises anelectric motor 77 connected with a drive sprocket 78 through a speedchange gearing 79 and a control means, in this case, a manually operablecontrol handle 811 for altering the control setting of the gearing 79 inaccordance with the speed at which the wheel member 62 is desired to bedriven. The drive sprocket 78 is connected with a driven sprocket 81 ofthe wheel member 62 by a suitable chain 82. Adjusting screw means 83connected between the support member 71 and the bracket 73 provides forswinging of the latter for tightening the chain $2.

Reverting to the die-supporting slides 41} and 41, it is pointed outthat these are provided respectively with lubricant chambers 85 and 86adapted to contain suitable lubricating material to be supplied to thedrawing dies 19 and 29 to lubricate the same during the drawingoperation. The die support means and the lubricant chamber 86 of thesecond slide 41 (FIG. 4) are conventional in form and construction. Inthe case of the first slide 40 (FIG. 3), however, a novel constructionhas been provided with respect to the lubricant chamber 85 and themounting means for the drawing die 19.

The portion of the slide 40 forming the bottom of the lubricant chamber85 is here shown as being a bottom Wall 87 and is provided with adischarge opening or cleanout passage 83 for the easy removal oflubricant from the chamber 85 and the cleaning thereof. The dischargeopening 88 is preferably a threaded opening and is provided with aremovable closure or screw plug 89.

The drawing die 19 is received in a die recess or pocket 91 whichextends into the slide 40 from the outer side thereof, and is separatedfrom the lubricant chamber 85 by an intervening partition wall 92 havingan opening 93 to accommodate the wire 11 and through which limitedamounts of lubricant are supplied to the die orifice. The drawing die 19is retained in the recess 91 by a cover member 94 extending across therecess and forming a thrust plate engageable by the forked portion 46 ofthe draw lever 42.

The thrust plate 94 is preferably of a harder metal than that of theslide 40 and takes the thrust of the draw lever 42 in a manner toprevent damage to the slide. The thrust plate 94 is detachably securedto the slide 41 as by suitable screws so that the die 19 can be easilyremoved and replaced and, since the die is located outside of thelubricant chamber his, the removal and replacement of the die can beaccomplished without need for emptying the lubricant chamber as has beennecessary heretofore.

In the operation of the wire drawing apparatus 10, the drawing stroke ofthe first die 19 produced by the first draw lever 42 causes theelongation of the wire 11, resulting from the drawing stroke, to movebackwardly toward the coil 13, and such elongation creates no problem.During the return swing of the lever 42 the drawn wire portion 11 isadvanced by a pulling action applied thereto by the wheel means 18. Thisadvance feeding of the wire causes the return movement of the slide 40and the drawing die 19 and, at the same time, pulls additional wirestock from the coil 13.

During the drawing stroke of the second die produced by the second drawlever 43 the elongation of the wire 11 resulting from this drawingstroke moves in a backward direction toward the wheel means 18 andcauses a slackening of the first drawn portion 11*. Upon the completionof the drawing stroke of the die 29, the lever 43 is swung through itsreturn movement during which the feed roll device 22 operates to advancethe second drawn portion 11 of the wire and thereby applies a pullingaction to the slide 41 and the die 24? by which these members are movedthrough their return stroke. This return movement of the slide 41 isassisted by the spring means 56 as was mentioned above. This feeding ofthe drawn wire portion 11 by the feed roll device 22 causes a tighteningof the bight 5% on the wheel means 13 to enable the latter to producethe above-described feeding action for the portion of the wire extendingthereto from the coil 13.

.In connection with this feeding action produced by the wheel means 18,it should be explained that the speed at which the wheel member 62 isdriven bears an important relation to the speed of actuation of the feedroll device 22. The wheel member 62 is driven at a speed to provide alineal rate of advance movement for the first drawn wire portion 11which is at least equal to, and preferably greater than, the maximumlineal advance feeding of the second drawn wire portion 11 produced bythe feed roll device 22. This desired speed for the wheel member 62 isobtained by adjustment of the speedchange gearing 79 and, when thedesired setting has been established in accordance with the rate ofoperation of the fabricating machine 12 and the drawing units 16 and 17,the driving rate for the wheel member can usually remain constant but issubject to further variation whenever needed by actuation of the controlmeans 80.

By having the wheel means 13 operate as a feed means for advancing thewire 11 through the first drawing unit 16, it will be seen that the feedroll device 22 need operate only as a feeding means for advancing thewire through the second drawing unit 17 and for supplying the drawn wire11b to the fabricating machine 12. The clamping force of the feed rolls23 and 24 against the wire, and the pulling force applied by the feeddevice 22 to the wire, can therefore be smaller than if this feed devicewere required to also advance the wire through the first drawing unit 16and to withdraw stock from the coil 13. The smaller clamping and pullingforces thus needed to be applied to the wire by the feed roll device 22reduces or minimizes the likelihood of flattening or otherwise damagingthe drawn wire, with the result that articles of a more regular andsatisfactory form can be produced by the fabricating machine 12.

Whatever marring or flattening of the first drawn wire portion 11 occursby reason of the engagement thereof with the wheel member 62 during thefeeding action produced by the latter will be eliminated during thesubsequent drawing operation performed on such first drawn wire portionby the second drawing die 20. The faster rate of drive described abovefor the wheel member 18 prevents the same from retarding, or becoming adrag on, the advance feeding movement imparted to the drawn wire portion11 by the feed roll device 22-.

Another important feature in the construction and operation of the wiredrawing apparatus 10 is that the leverarm relationship for the levermeans serving the slides 40 and 41 is such that the work stroke of thefirst slide 40 will be shorter than the work stroke of the second slide41. By providing a shorter work stroke for the first slide 43, such as astroke which is approximately only of the length of the work stroke ofthe second slide 41, the feeding action produced by the Wheel means 18will be more effective in maintaining the slide 411 in adjacent relationto the associated draw lever 42 during the return swinging movement ofthe latter. This will result in a relatively quieter operation of thedrawing apparatus 10 because of the decreased tendency of the draw lever42 to pound against the slide 4111 when the draw lever starts itsswinging movement for the next succeeding drawing stroke.

The relatively shorter work stroke of the slide 40 in relation to theslide 41 also produces a smoother operation of the apparatus 10 byreason of a better synchronization of the drawing units 3.6 and 17 withrespect to the wire elongation resulting from the working stroke of thesecond drawing die 29, whereby such elongation is accommodated withminimum interference to the feeding action performed by the wheel means18 for the portion of the wire traversing the first drawing unit 16.

The wheel means 13 is preferably located so that the annular groove 65thereof will lie in a horizontal plane which is also the horizontalplane containing the axes of the drawing orifices of the dies 19 and 20.The rim portion 64 of the wheel member 62 can be of any suitablediameter and the wrapped engagement of the bight 58 of the first drawnwire portion 11 therewith should preferably be at least 180 in angularextent. When the diameter of the rim portion of the wheel member 62 isgreater than the lateral spacing between the axes of the orifies of thedie members 19 and 20, a guide roller or sheave 96 can be provided onthe frame portion as a fair-lead for directing the wire into the drawingunit 17.

FIG. 7 of the drawings shows a multiple-draw wire drawing apparatussimilar to that of FIGS. 1 to 6 inclusive but representing a modifiedapparatus iilh in which first and second drawing units 16 and 17 arelocated in an in-line relation and the wheel means 103 is located at apoint between these units. In all other respects the modified wiredrawing apparatus 1% is substantially the same as the apparatus in, withthe exception that the bight Hi4 extending around the wheel means 2% hasa wrapped engagement therewith of approximately 360 of angular extent,

From the accompanying drawing and the foregoing detailed description itwill now be recognized that this invention has provided a novelconstruction for multipledraw wire drawing apparatus of thereciprocating-die type by which important advantages are achieved overthe prior art, including the advantages hereinabove described.

Although the novel wire drawing apparatus of this invention has beenillustrated and described herein to a somewhat detailed extent, it willbe understood, of course, that the invention is not to be regarded asbeing limited correspondingly in scope but includes all changes andmodifications coming within the terms of the claims hereof.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. In wire drawing apparatus; first and second drawing units in a seriesrelation with. respect to the path of advance movement of the wire to bedrawn and each unit comprising a reciprocable die slide carrying adrawing die, a grip device adapted to grip the wire to prevent backwardmovement thereof and a swingable draw lever efiective against the slidefor causing intermittent drawing strokes of the die along the wire in adirection away from the grip device; frame means supporting the slides;actuating means connected with the draw levers for swinging the same toactuate said slides; wheel means at a point of said path intermediatesaid units and having said wirein at least a partially wrapped relationthereon; and driving means connected with said Wheel means to impartrotation thereto during the operation of the drawing units.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said drawing units aredisposed in a laterally adjacent relation with ends of said unitscomprising the wire-delivery end of one unit and the wire-receiving endof the other unit facing in the same direction; the portions of the wiretraversing the units being movable in opposite directions; and whereinsaid wheel means is located adjacent said ends and engaged by a loopportion of the reach of wire pass ing therebetween.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said wheel means has aperipheral annular slot in which a loop portion of the wire is received;said slot being of a narrow transverse width in a direction along theaxis of wheel rotation and being deep in a direction radially of theWheel means, so that slackening of the loop portion can occur duringoperation of said units without harmful kinking of said loop portion orcomplete disengagement thereof from said Wheel means.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said wheel means has anaxially-narrow and radially-deep peripheral slot in which the wrappedportion is disposed; and wherein said wheel means is located with saidslot lying substantially in the same horizontal plane as the axes of thedrawing dies.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said wheel means has aperipheral annular slot in which a loop portion of the reach or" wirepassing between said units is received in wrapped relation to said wheelmeans; said slot being narrow in a direction along the axis of wheelrotation and deep radially of the wheel means, so that slackening ofsaid loop portion can occur during operation of said units withoutharmful kinking of the loop portion or complete disengagement thereoffrom said wheel means; and wherein the wrapped portion is at least 180in angular extent around said wheel means.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said units are in an alignedand spaced-apart relation in the direction of the longitudinal passageof the wire therethrough, and said wheel means is located between theadjacent ends of said units.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the eifective lever-armlengths of said draw levers are such that the drawing stroke of the dieof the first unit is shorter than the drawing stroke of the die of thesecond unit.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the effective lever-armlengths of said draw levers are such that the drawing stroke of the dieof the first unit is approximately percent of the length of drawingstroke of the die of the second unit.

9. Wire drawing apparatus comprising frame means having first and secondguideways thereon, first and second slides reciprocably operable in saidfirst and second guideways, first and second grip devices on said framemeans adjacent said first and second guideways and effective to grip thewire to prevent movement thereof in a backward direction, first andsecond draw levers swingably supported in said frame means andengageable with said first and second slides for imparting work strokesthereto along their respective guideways in a direction away from theassociated grip devices, first and second drawing dies on said slidesand movable along the wire in drawing engagement therewith during thework strokes of said slides, actuating means connected with said leversfor swinging the same, the reach of the drawn wire extending betweensaid first and second dies having a bight therein, wheel means havingrim means engaged by said bight in a wrapped relation thereto, anddriving means connected with said wheel means to rotate the same forcausing an advance feeding movement of the portion of the wire extendingthrough said first grip device and first drawing die.

10. Wire drawing apparatus comprising frame means having first andsecond guideways thereon, first and second slides reciprocably operablein said first and second guideways, first and second grip devices onsaid frame means adjacent said first and second guideways and effectiveto grip the wire to prevent movement thereof in a backward direction,first and second draw levers swingably supported in said frame means andengageable with said first and second slides for imparting work strokesthereto along their respective guideways in a direction away from theassociated grip devices, first and second drawing dies on said slidesand movable along the wire in drawing engagement therewith during thework strokes of said slides, actuating means connected with said leversfor swinging the same, rotatably driven feed roll means engaging thedrawn wire on the delivery side of said second grip device for advancingsuch drawn wire at a given rate of lineal feed, the portion of the drawnwire extending between said first and second dies having a bighttherein, wheel means having rim means engaged by said bi ht in a wrappedrelation thereto, and driving means connected with said wheel means andoperable to drive the same at a rate to produce an advance feeding ofthe wire along said first guideway at a faster lineal rate than saidgiven rate.

11. In double-draw wire drawing apparatus for drawing wire beingsupplied from a supply coil, frame means having laterally adjacent firstand second frame portions provided with first and second guideways,first and second slides reciprocable in said first and second guideways,first and second drawing dies on said first and second slides, first andsecond grip devices on said frame portions and located adjacent theremote ends of said first and second guideways, first and second drawlevers swingably supported by said frame means and engageable with saidfirst and second slides for causing drawing strokes of said dies bypushing of the latter along different portions of a wire to be drawn andin directions away from their associated grip devices, said first andsecond grip devices having passages for first and second drawn portionsof said wire and being operable to grip said drawn portions forpreventing backward movement of the wire during the drawing strokes ofsaid dies, rotatably driven feed roll means engaging said second drawnportion for advancing the same at a given lineal feed rate, wheel meanshaving an annular rim portion around which said first drawn portionextends in passing from said first grip device to said second die, anddriving means operable to rotate said wheel means for withdrawing wirefrom said coil and imparting movement to said first slide and first diein the direction of advance feed of said first drawn portion.

12. Wire drawing apparatus as defined in claim 11 wherein the drivingmeans for said wheel means is a variable speed driving means andincludes control means operable to cause said wheel means to produce anadvance movement of said first slide and first die and the wire portionstherein at a lineal feed rate which is faster than said given linealfeed rate.

13. Wire drawing apparatus as defined in claim 11 wherein the rimportion of said wheel means has an axially-narrow and radially-deepannular groove therein in which slackening of said first drawn portioncan take place during the operation of the apparatus without harmfulkinking of said first drawn portion or complete disengagement thereoffrom said wheel means.

14. In wire drawing apparatus; frame means containing a guideway; aslide reciprocably movable in said guideway; a drawing die on said slideand movable therewith through a drawing stroke; grip means on said framemeans and adapted to grip and hold the wire during said drawing strokeof the die; actuating means efiective on said slide for causing thedrawing stroke of said die along the wire; said slide having passagemeans for the wire including a lubricant chamber, and a die recesscontaining said die and provided with an access opening on the sidethereof remote from said chamber for movement of the die into and out ofsaid recess; and partition means on the slide between said chamber andrecess and having an opening to accommodate the Wire and to feed limitedamounts of lubricant to said die.

15. Wire drawing apparatus as defined in claim 14 wherein said slide hasa lubricant discharge opening in communication with said chamberadjacent the bottom thereof and normally closed by a removable closuremeans.

16. Wire drawing apparatus as defined in claim 14 wherein the actuatingmeans for said slide comprises a swingable draw lever; and wherein adie-retaining cover means for said recess is engageable by said lever asa thrust means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,018,211 Hogue Oct. 22, 1935 2,337,881 Gaines Dec. 28, 1943 2,704,151Holbrook Mar. 15, 1955 2,797,799 Ehlert July 2, 1957

